In March, the scientific journals Linguistica Uralica, Oil Shale, Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences and TRAMES were published.
LINGUISTICA URALICA
The new issue of Linguistica Uralica features a study on toponyms from Krevinian, a Finnic language closely related to Votic, once spoken in the Bauska region of Latvia. The Krevinians had been moved there from Ingria in the 15th century. Their language, extinct since the middle of the 19th century, was described by Wiedemann in the 19th century (1871), and in the 20th century, Eberhard Winkler devoted a study to this variety of Finnic (1997). The question of left-behind Krevinian toponyms in the area in question has been approached earlier by Latvian scholars. These etymologies are scrutinized now in an article by Simonas Noreikis from the University of Helsinki. The interesting discussion leads us into the history of the Krevinians and their interaction with the inhabitants of the Latvian-Lithuanian borderland. The result, however, is that most of the proposed etymologies are to be rejected.
OIL SHALE
The latest issue of Oil Shale contains five articles in total, four by Chinese and one by Estonian authors.
We would like to highlight the article by Estonian authors, ‘Fly ash applications for mine workings backfilling – review of current practices and perspectives for oil shale industry residues’, as it addresses a highly relevant topic. The article explores solutions to prevent mine subsidence through land stabilisation and provides an overview of stabilisation methods commonly used elsewhere. Considering the specific characteristics of Estonia’s shallow mines and existing infrastructure, the authors propose injectable backfilling through treatment boreholes as the most applicable land stabilisation method in Estonia. The backfill typically consists of locally available byproducts or waste materials, including oil shale ash. The study evaluates how the properties of Estonian oil shale ash – a byproduct of electricity and oil production – compare to the requirements for effective backfilling. Additionally, the article outlines which properties of ashes still need further analysis, as they critically impact their usability in backfilling.
We also highly recommend reading the other articles by Chinese authors, which focus on defining the geophysical and chemical properties of oil shale deposits.
Content and full texts of the articles
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ESTONIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
The March 2025 issue of the Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences presents several research articles on mathematics, as well as interesting reading on oceanography, chemistry and many other fields.
The article ‘Life cycle assessment of laboratory-scale chitosan production: comparison of high-pressure processing-assisted and conventional methods’ by Bashir Bashiri et al. analyses the production methods of chitosan from an environmental perspective, focusing on high-pressure processing (HPP)-assisted and conventional techniques. Employing life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies, the study evaluates the environmental footprints of conventional and HPP-assisted chitosan production processes. Results reveal that HPP-assisted production exhibits superior environmental performance, particularly in reducing climate change impact by 64% compared to conventional methods. The study concludes that HPP-assisted chitosan production offers a more sustainable approach with lower environmental footprints across various endpoints. These findings provide valuable guidance for stakeholders in the chitosan industry to enhance sustainability practices and minimize environmental impacts.
In the article ‘Testing of selected hybrids of Ribes nigrum L. in Estonia’ by Ave Kikas and Asta-Virve Libek the results of the experiment with 16 prospective blackcurrant hybrids are presented. The aim of the experiment was to study the agronomical and fruit quality traits of the selected hybrids and to identify the genotypes with the best properties. Genotypes 14-11-4 (SRI9154-3 × ‘Karri’), 11-13-3 (‘Katyusha’ × ‘Ben Finlay’) and 9-13-2 (‘Minaj Smyriov’ × ‘Ben Finlay’) were shown to be winter-hardy, disease-resistant and associated with good yield potential, a high number of fruits per cluster and a high ascorbic acid content in the berries.
TRAMES. A JOURNAL OF THE HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
The first issue of TRAMES in 2025 opens with two contributions about the Cold War. In the first, ‘Frenemies to enemies: how institutionalizing global security contributed to the political-ideological rift that evolved into the Cold War’, Chen Kertcher from Israel (Ariel University) examines the international military and global disarmament. A friendly enemy (frenemy) here indicates a friendly state, despite essential dislike or rivalry. By the early 1946 there were three political-ideological camps. The first, led by the United States, was internally divided between globalist and militarized approaches. The second was the communist camp, led by the Soviet Union, and the third was an imperialist camp, led by the United Kingdom and France. On the basis of source material, Kertcher analyses the notion of ‘enemy’ in the United Nations. All camps envisioned global security institutions aligned with their ideology. Proposals for international military and disarmament threatened these visions, intensifying tensions. By 1947, discussions in the United Nations polarized the powers and pushed the United Kingdom and France to align with the United States, solidifying its dominance over Western security models.
The Czech researcher David Jirásek (Masaryk University Brno) explores the evolution of Czechoslovak military intelligence cooperation within the framework of the Warsaw Pact. The early cooperation was bilateral, progressing toward a structured multilateral framework by the 1960s. In 1964 the annual conferences for military intelligence were institutionalized. This facilitated exchanges of intelligence across multiple domains. Collaboration included sharing intelligence data, operational experiences, education, and joint exercises. While relations with East Germany, Poland, and Hungary were largely symmetrical, cooperation with Bulgaria was notably asymmetric. The hierarchical relationship with Soviet military intelligence, characterized by imbalanced information flows, underscores the influence of geopolitical dynamics. By the 1980s, intelligence cooperation was increasingly standardized and supported by automated processes.
The Lithuanian researchers Eglė Navickienė and Edita Riaubienė (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University) analyse the profession of architects from the point of view of their gender; they examine the otherness of female and male architects and their distinct professional identities. Women and men in the Lithuanian architectural community share an almost identical understanding of architecture and similar involvement in the profession. Noticeable differences emerge in the perceived scope of architectural activities, motives for choosing the profession, and time allocation in their professional routines.
In the next article, Murat Ali Karavelioğlu (Iğdır University) takes a look at 17th century sociocultural life of the Ottoman period. He examines the Istanbul winehouses, their keepers, regular clientele and entertainment.
The last article by Fatih Erbay et al. examines the sources of terminology used by Swedish missionaries in their Christian missionary work in East Turkestan in the Muslim Uyghur community. This study aims to examine the terms used to express concepts related to God (the Father and the Son), the Bible, the Apostles, Jesus’ disciples, and ‘belief in God’. To introduce Christianity, Arabic and Persian terms related to Islam are often used, which were easily understandable to the Muslim Uyghur community.